"He's dropped the flag. The rest of us have to get up and go on," DeMint said during an interview on Fox News' "Fox & Friends." "A lot of us are talking to him behind the scenes in hopes that he'll make the right decision about what needs to be done."

Asked what the "right decision" would be for Sanford, DeMint said: "I don't want to say."

Additionally, some of Sanford's closest friends have reportedly been advising him to step down privately from the beginning of this crisis - which began a week ago - but have been holding their tongues publicly.

That could be changing today.

Sources tell FITS that one of Sanford's closest friends and legislative allies, Beaufort Sen. Tom Davis, traveled to Columbia this morning to meet with the governor.